Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead is a four part mini series written and illustrated by Steve Pugh. The story is actually attributed to both Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis, but by Warren’s own admission the “concept, character and setting is (his), all else is Steve’s”.

Hotwire follows the adventures of our eponymous heroine, Alice Hotwire, the Detective Exorcist. The series is set in the near future, a time when the living and the dead share the same space. The dead in the story take the form of the ghost-like ‘Blue-Lights’, which according to Alice are electromagnetic personifications of the dead. Everyone else just refers to them as ghosts, which tends to get her riled up. Normally the Blue-Lights are pretty well behaved, and just wander the city streets, as harmless echos of their former selves. Sometime though, the Blue-Lights want more than this, some seek after revenge for former transgressions, some want power, and some want to bring the living over into their World. This is when Detective Alice Hotwire gets called in, to exorcise the malignant Blue-Light manifestations.

Lately, Alice’s job has become a lot harder, as the Blue-Lights have started to penetrate the Suppressor-Fields in the cities, and are possessing the living. The living are being turned into “Ghost-Bombs”, capable of enormous damage. Concurrently, a citywide riot is diverting all police resources to peacekeeping duties, leaving Alice and her unwilling partner, Mobey, to handle the problem that no-one else wants to acknowledge.

At the opening of this third issue of the series, Alice and a small task force head to the location that they suspect might be the source of the recent Blue-Light disturbances, and the sabotaged Suppressor Towers, the Mott’s Island Maximum Security Cemetery. This is the location where the Blue-Lights of hard-core murderers and crazies from several territories are kept locked-up in impenetrable storage facilities. upon exploring the bowels of the complex, Hotwire and her team discover a gigantic, grotesque blue light manifestation, and a LOT of dead bodies. What Alice discovers is a plot of mammoth proportions, a jail break of the the Blue-Light mass murderers, peadophiles, and dangerous criminals. These are no ordinary Blue-Lights though, because due to scientific experimentation they have been modified to have a variety of special destructive powers, making them Ghost-Bombs. Alice and her team find themselves backed into a corner, with no way out other than to destroy every Blue-Light in their way. Alice calls for the flooding of the complex, which destroys most of the Blue-Lights, but the Ghost-Bombs have to be taken out the old fashioned way – with extreme prejudice!

This third issue is a wonderful mid-point to the series. The first issue was a mostly introductory issue, helping us discover the character’s motivations, and become familiar with the setting, and the concept of Blue-Lights. In the second issue we began to learn more of the impending catastrophe amongst the Blue-Lights, and the existence of Ghost-Bombs. In this third issue the story really kicked in to full throttle, with lots of revelations about who is behind the plot, and the action part of the story really took off. The issue really leaves the reader on a major cliffhanger, as we are left with an image of our protagonist about to be crushed by thousands of litres of rushing water. I for one will definitely be coming back to see what happens next!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Hotwire is based on a concept developed by Warren Ellis. One of the major complaints that you hear amongst detractors of Ellis’ work is that while they love the concepts and characters of his stories, the execution often leaves them feeling cold, and underwhelmed. I say this to highlight the fact that this comic will be perfect for anyone who ever finds themselves expressing this opinion. Ellis fans, don’t despair though, Steve Pugh does the great man proud on the execution of this story, so you will be in no way disappointed if you are picking this up because it has Warren’s name on it.

[ED NOTE: I would like to say that I love BOTH Warren's concepts AND the execution of his stories. I just wanted to mention this comment I have heard from several people. SO PLEASE: NO HATE MAIL! I would probably read Warren's grocery list if he published it. Even though the bastard once publicly humiliated me for something I posted on his forum... S'alright... I've got a thick skin:)]

Steve Pugh is known primarily as an artist, and not a writer, but this debut effort shows that he possesses a talent for writing that matches his immense artistic skills, if not even surpasses them. The pacing of the issues seems to work perfectly, as does the pacing of the overall story, so far. Pugh’s dialogue, and the ways in which the characters interact with each other is executed brilliantly. The flow of the narrative is incredibly smooth, and Pugh does something here that makes me really happy: there is very little useless exposition, and he has an incredible talent for know when to let the artwork speak for itself. This most likely comes from the fact that Pugh is primarily an artist and when he is writing he is thinking of the finished product. He knows what the printed page is going to look like, and doesn’t feel the need to fill panels with superfluous internal monologue describing every little thing that the characters are thinking and doing. Don’t get me started on exposition….

So lets move on to the artwork…

Steve Pugh is a wonderful artist, and has worked on some of my favourite comic book series/strips throughout the years, such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, Hellblazer, Hitman, Third World War, and Saint of Killers. Steve’s art is always wonderful, and is instantly recognizable. On Hotwire, however, he seems to be employing a brand new art style. The art in Hotwire looks a lot like, intricately detailed, fully-painted artwork, with hints of computer generated effects and colours. The hybrid seems to work really well, and looks absolutely gorgeous. The dark cityscapes of Hotwire’s World are foreboding and industrial looking, and Hotwire looks just like she describes herself, as a “hot-cop exorcist”, that is, she is depicted a very pretty woman with sharp elfin features, almost like a porcelain doll. Pugh’s real talent in the art department is in the depiction of the Blue-Lights and the Ghost-Bombs. The manifestations always look incredibly horrific, and eerily haunting, and come in a variety of creep shapes and sizes, from skeletal dead children, to giant metallic spiders. Spine tingling stuff!

If you couldn’t tell from everything said above, I REALLY like this book Pugh has done an amazing job on both the art and writing fronts. As if this wasn’t enough, he even letters the damn book! What a ridiculously talented individual! You should rush out and buy this issue of Hotwire, it is sure to be one of the best things coming out this week. While you are at the store, have a look for the first 2 issues, they are also great comics, and are only priced at $2.99. Most small publishing houses are pricing their books at $3.99 + now, due to the harsh economy, but Radical seem to be keeping their prices nice and low. That extra dollar in my wallet feels really good!

Hotwire is only one of the great Sci-Fi comics that Radical Comics have out at the moment, and I would also recommend that you also look up Shrapnel and Cities of Dust, both wonderful books. I’m from the UK originally, and and have been reading 2000 AD since I was a child. It is the gold standard to which I compare all other science fiction comic books. Hotwire, and the other series mentioned, compare amazingly well to the “galaxies greatest”. Hopefully Radical will continue to publish more great science fiction comics, they certainly have an eye for greatness!

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